Armor-plating for battleships.



W. KURZE.

ARMOR PLATING FOR BATTLESHIPS.

APPLxcATloN FILED APR.19,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. KURZE.

ARMOR PLATING FOR BATTLESHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I9, 1913.

1,179,1 1 3. Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTHER KURZE, 0F NIEDERLSSNITZ, NEAR DRESDEN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIRM OF H. P. KUEHNE, OF N IEDERLSSNITZ, NEAR DRESDEN, GERMANY.

ARMOR-PLATING FOR BATTLESHIPS.

Application led April 19, 1913.

To all whom t may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, WALTHER KURZE, engineer, a subject of the King of Saxony, German Empire, and resident of Koenigstrasse 6, Niederlssnitz, near Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Armor-Plating for Battleships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to a new and improved system of armor plating for battleships or the like and has for its object to prevent as much as possible the penetration of heavy projectiles into the armor-plating in general or for instance into the armorplating of turrets, conning-bridges and the like in such a manner that the men, the apparatus or instruments for commanding, measuring and the like, the guns and steering devices as well as the main armor-plating of the war-vessel itself are adequately protected against the destroying effect of the projectiles. It is of greatest importance to particularly prevent the penetration of heavy projectiles into the central or middle part of armor-plated battle-ships, or into the commanders turret, from which not only the battle-ship itself but often also an entire squadron of war-vessels or even an entire fleet is commanded as is well known.

According to the present invention the penetration of heavy projectiles into the armor-plating of battle-ships or war-vessels is obviated by entirely preventing the projectiles from coming into contact with the main armor-plating. For this purpose special protecting means for the said armorplating are provided, said protecting means or devices being made to form protecting armor-plates situated in front of the hopper or main armor-plating of the veel and being arranged so as to travel or move laterally thus receiving a lateral displacement and at the same time yield in a rearward direction in such a manner that on the impact of a projectile on the protecting armorplate the latter will yield rearward and at the same time travel or move laterally into another position. In consequence of this new position which the protecting plate will assume for a short time the projectile hitting the same will be caused to slide off said y 4armorplate without any considerable loss of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Serial No. 762,244.

its kinetic energy. On the other hand, it will be necessary to maintain the kinetic energy of the hitting projectiles for causing the recoil of the latter into the atmosphere, for preventing, during the sliding off movement of the projectiles, another or repeated contact with parts of the protecting-device and, finally for obviating a continued loss of the kinetic energy of said projectiles which, 1 11 c ase of a repeated contact of the projectlles with the protecting device would be transformed into forces capable of destroylng the said armor-plating.

The main feature 0f the present invention therefore is the provision of means for so supporting protecting armor plates as to make the same capable of yielding rearwardly parallel to themselves as well as travcling or moving laterally, the yielding supports having a tendency of overcoming the inertia of a protecting armor plate even when a projectile strikes the same in its middle or central part.

According to the present invention the protecting armor-plates are arranged in front of the armor-plating proper which in consequence of this double plating may be made thinner and therefore will be of a less weight than heretofore. These protecting armor-plates are preferably of a curved shape and supported in such a manner that they will be capable of yielding rearward and at the same time traveling or moving laterally. When a heavy projectile strikes against the same some of the kinetic energy of the projectile will be transferred to Said plate and in consequence also to its movable support, thus causing a lateral movement of the plate, inasmuch as the latter will travel or move laterally and thus change the point in which the projectile hits said plate, where- ,by the trajectory of flight of the projectile iis changed and a recoil of the latter back to the atmosphere is insured. By supporting the protecting armor-plate so as to be capable of traveling or moving laterally and i at the same time of yielding rearward this plate will have during its recoil suiiicient time to receive and accumulate the energy transmitted to it and to transform said enzrgy into the desired movement. The in- ;tability of the yielding support for the protectinv armorlate causes even in case a section.

of war-vessels and the like may also be made use of for protecting particularly large visionslots or sight-openings which, as is well known, were very often up to now only covered by very insufficient protecting devices. If'the protecting device formingthe object of the present invention is used for these purposes, it mustbe so arranged or adjusted that only the small lateral vision-slots, sufli cient to observe the enemy, will remain uncovered, however of course in such a manner that they will not be exposed to the projectiles. It may in this case then be of preference to make use of a mirror-device.

The accompanying drawing shows one eonstructional form of the subject matter of kthe invention as applied to conning-bridges that is for bulbed or circular armors.

Figure l represents a vertical transverse Figs. 2, 3 and 4: are horizontal transverse sections respectively on lines -x, y/-g/ and 2 2 ofl Fig. l and Fig. 5 is a horizontal transverse section of an armor-turret provided with the protecting armor-plate constructed according to the present invention.

a, Fig. l, represents part of a stationary plating.

is the yielding armor-plate capable of ylateral movement and forming the'object of the present invention. This armor-plate is f protected from above by the armor plated V cover a1 projecting for this purpose over the upper edge of the yielding armor-plate Z).

The armor-plate b is capable of a lateral movement or travel on ball-bearings c, CZ

and roller-bearings e, f around the stationf ary armor-plating a. Flat springs g, ,71, and

tened within said plate will touch theJ sectoreshaped partitions or separating-plates 7a, l loosely inserted between vthe springs and the stationary armor plating a in such a manner that the partitions or separating plates will come into Contact with the rollerbearings e, f respectively.

To insure a smooth as possible running of the ball-bearings the rollers c, f touch the armor-plating a and the movable protecting armor-plate only at the rings or bands m inserted into the periphery of the armorplating a and into the inner faces of the separating plates 7a and Z. The rollers are movablyinserted into the protecting armorplate Y) by means of the coils z' mentioned above and the roller-cagesn as clearly seen from Figs. 1 and 2.

The movable protecting armor-plate rests against the ball-bearing c by means of the blocks 0 movably arranged within the said armor-plate t as shown by Figs. land 4l. Said blocks are provided with bolts 19 l fastened to them and allowing a free or independent to and fro movement of the blocks within corresponding grooves 01 provided in the protecting armor-plate b. The blocks are held by the covering rings g1, Q2 fastened in the inner face of the protecting armor-plate Z) so as to prevent a separation of the blocks from the protecting armor-plate. For supporting the blocks on or against the stationary armor-plating a, the bolts r are inserted into and fastenedv to the blocks 0 and are provided on their upper tapered part or end with small rollers s rotating within the grooves t provided within the stationary armor-plating a Vand touching the side walls of said grooves.

As represented in Fig. 3, the sector-shaped partitions or separating-plates 7c are separated froni the rollers again by the projections cr flanges o, if the movable protecting armor-plate b returns to its original position, so that they will only serve substantially for the transmission of the lateral impulse of force or impact. When the said partitions or plates are returned to their original position the protecting armor-plate is again free to move in any direction.

rIhe ball-bearing al is provided in the upper part of the protecting armor-plate for additionally supporting Vthis plate against falling out laterally and, by its coil u for receiving the recoil of the armor-plate 7) produced by the springs resting against said plate.

Fig. 5 shows diagrammatically the use of the object of the present invention with a gun protected by armor plate. The gun or ordnance itself being guided within small or narrow embrasures, a device must be provided for preventing a Contact between the gun and the movable protecting armorplate b. Said device may be formed by a limiting block fw inserted into the stationary armor-plating in a resilient manner by coiled springs e so that it may yield in all "directions, This block w engages a groove or grooves provided in the movable protecting armor-plate and is loosely connected by a pin m with the stationary Aarmorplating a.

The means described for protecting a gun arranged within an armor-plated turret will act in such a manner that on a projectile hitting the outer protecting armor-plate the latter will be capable of traveling peripherically to the inner stationary armorplating and moving' around a point coinciding with the center of the latter. The recoil of the protecting armor-plate may also be produced by a motive Huid under pressure instead of coiled springs.

I claim as my invention:

l. In an armor-plating for battle-ships or the like, the combination with stationary armor-plates to be protected, of protecting armor-plates, yielding supports for simul taneously allowing the protecting armor plates to travel laterally and yield rearwardly, and means for fastening said supports of the protecting armor-plates to the interior faces of the latter and to the outer surfaces of the stationary armor-plates to be protected.

2. In an armor-plating and the like, the combination with stationary armor-plates to be protected, of protecting armor-plates, yielding supports for simultaneously allowing the protecting armor-plates to travel laterally and yield rearwardly, means for fastening said supports' of the protecting armor-plates to the interior faces of the latter and to the outer surfaces of the stationary armor-plates, elastic means for reducing the friction caused between the moving parts of the movable protecting armor-plates and the stationary armor-plates, and rolling supports for uniformly distributing the weight of support of the moving parts mentioned.

In an armor-plating for battle-ships and the like, the combination with stationary armor-plates to be protected, of protecting armor-plates, supports for simultaneously allowing the'protecting armorplates to travel laterally and yield rearwardly, means for fastening said supports of the protecting armor-plates to the interior faces of the latter and to the outer surfaces of the stationary armor-plates, rolling supports for reducing the friction caused between the moving parts of the movable protecting armor-plates and the stationary armor-plates and for uniformly distributing the weight or support of the moving parts mentioned, and elastic means for allowing the temporary Contact of the protecting movable armor-plates with the stationary armor-plates only during the moment of impact caused by the striking projectile.

4.. In an armor-plating for battle-ships or for battle-ships the like, the combination with stationary armor-plates, blocks for freely connecting the stationary armor-plates with the movable protecting armor-plates, ball-bearings for supporting said blocks, yieldingly arranged roller-bearings, flat-recoil springs, separating plates loosely arranged between said springs and roller bearings, ring shaped bands provided within the outer surface of the stationary armor-plates to be protected, and flange-shaped projections inserted into the inner surface of the protecting armorplates and separating the groups of rollers belonging to one protecting armor-plate from the groups of rollers belonging to the adjacent protecting armor-plates.

5. In armor-plating for battle-ships and the like, and in combination, a stationary armor-plate to be protected, a protecting armor-plate, block members for connecting the said stationary armor-plate and protecting armor-plate so that the latter may move toward and away from the former, ball bearings in which the same are mounted, and roller-bearings permitting the said protecting armor-plate, when struck, to also move laterally and in front of the said stationary armorplate.

6. In armor-plating for battle-ships and the like, and in combination, a stationary armor-plate to be protected, a protecting armor-plate, block members for connecting the said stationary armor-plate and protecting armor-plate so that the latter may `move toward and away from the former, ball bearings in which the same are mounted, roller bearings, frames in which the said roller bearings are journaled, the said frames being mounted in the said protecting armor-plate and the roller bearings adapted to contact with the outer surface of the said stationary armor-plate, and resilient means for normally maintaining the said roller bearings, frames, and consequently the said protecting armor-plate, in position.

7. In armor-plating for battle-ships and the like, and in combination, a stationary armor-plate to be protected, a protecting armor-plate, block members for connecting the said stationary armor-plate and protect ing armor-plate so that the latter may move toward and away from the former, ball bearings in which the saine are mounted, roller bearings, frames in which the said roller bearings are journaled, the said frames being mounted in the said protecting armorplate, and the roller bearings adapted to contact with the outer surface of the said stationary armor-plate, springs extending between the said frames in which the roller bearings-are mounted and adjacent portions of the said protecting armor-plate. separating plates extending between the said frames and lying adjacent the said roller bearings, and additional springs between the said separating plates and inner surfaces of the said protecting armor-plate.

8. In armor-plating for battle-ships and the like, and in combination, a stationary armor-plate to be protected, a protecting Copie; of this patent may be obtained for extending between the said frames and lying adjacent the said roller bearings, additional springs between the said separating plates and inner surfaces of the said protecting armor-plate, rings set in the faces of the said separating plates and rings set in the outer face of the said stationary armorplate, against which said rings the said roller bearings are adapted to contact.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two witnesses, this 31st day of.

March, 1913.

WALTHER KURZE. Witnesses:

PAUL ARRAs, CLARE SIMON.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patenti. Washington, D. C. 

